Roku may be responding to competition from Sony and others (rumors of a refreshed Apple TV/iTV with Netflix streaming) with a decent price drop on their popular streamer boxes:
- Roku SD Player is now $59 (was $79)
- Roku HD Player is now $69 (was $99)
- Roku HD-XR Player is now $99 (was $129)
Add to this the fact that the Roku HD-XR is due to receive 1080p USB video playback later this year and you have an interesting story. I expect the competition to get really tough for those focusing on Netflix streaming as this will become a very common thing in hardware that does much more – especially if it does turn out to be a feature in the rumored AppleTV upgrades.
These stats are way out of line… The XDS was $79 supports dual mode wireless and has more outputs including 1080p than the AppleTV…. Really the only reason to buy an AppleTV is if you have a big investment in iTunes. You’ll always have more selection with lower prices if you go for the more open standards of Roku, Amazon and Walmart, although that’s not the only reason to buy something of course.